Anne

March 2018 is our latest issue. It went out to subscribers on 1st February and was officially on sale on 8th February. If you order a latest issue and subscription bundle, we’ll send you this issue and your April 2018 magazine will be posted on Thursday 1st March.

This year the show takes place on Saturday 3rd March from 10.00 am to 4.00 pm at Bournemouth School for Girls in Castle Gate Close, Castle Lane West, Bournemouth, Dorset BH8 9UJ. Tickets are available and cost £5 in advance or £6 on the door. The school refectory opens and staff provide hot and cold refreshments throughout the day.

Fiona Morris is our Guest Speaker at around 11.00 am. She’ll be talking for the first time about her journey into knitting, her adventures into machine knitting and her latest exciting project. Marianne Henio, together with Carbery and Ringwood club members will organise and present a fashion show in the afternoon around 2.00 pm. Many of Marianne’s designer garments will be on show for the first time and she’s available all day to chat about her work.

If you can travel to Nottingham, do please come along to the West Park Leisure Centre in Wilsthorpe Road, Long Eaton NG10 4AA. The centre is about a mile and a half from Junction 25 on the M1. When you come off the motorway, take the exit to Long Eaton onto Bostock’s Lane. After about half a mile, at the junction with Longmoor Road, turn right onto the B6002. The road bears left and becomes Petersham Road. Continue along the B6002 into Wilsthorpe Road and the Leisure Centre is along this road on the left.

This year our show is on Sunday 8th April and Guest Speakers are Marianne Henio, Bill King and Clair Crowston. The lectures cost an extra £1 each and numbers have to be limited so it’s best to book in advance. If you can’t then don’t worry, as we usually have tickets to sell on the door. The talks are held upstairs, but there are stairs and a lift, so access is easy for everyone. We’ll have hot and cold snacks and drinks available and last year’s excellent caterers will look after us again.

This month’s Slice of Life rang lots of bells and made me smile. Fran hooked a couple of teenagers and I may well have added my three-year old grand-daughter to the list of knitting machine enthusiasts. There’s always lots to do when she comes, as I’ve loads of paper and pens, books and crayons. She sits on my knee at the desk and we flip from stickers to dinosaurs and stamps to Play-doh as we while away many happy hours.

The last visit included mummy, daddy and her other granny, so we were all sitting round chatting when she announced that her bunny was cold and needed a scarf. I was ‘volunteered’ to make one, so we went up to my knitting room and she pounced on a luscious ball of multi-shade bright lime and emerald yarn with lots of shiny green knobbles. (Smooth DK? Not a hope!) I found a short pair of knitting needles and we went back to join the others. Having cast on six stitches and knitted a bit to start us off, I sat on the floor with her between my legs and we managed two rows. She held the ‘sticks’ and lassoed the yarn round the top of the needle, until dismay set in. She stood up. pulled it off the needles and with her hands about eight inches apart, announced she needed it ‘this long’, not just a tiny square!

For years I’ve had a Mattel toy knitting machine tucked away in a corner, which was holding much promise as we opened it up. There were balls of lemon, mauve and pink yarn sitting neatly on the top, soon destined to become a scarf for dolly. Instructions? What self-respecting machine knitter needs a manual? Having used one of those little French Knitting machines for years, I worked out a way to cast on and, with an easy turn of the handle, we were soon knitting. Round and round she turned and out of the bottom popped the knitting. We changed colour twice and, in no time at all, made a very fetching scarf to keep dolly warm. Slightly in danger of strangling herself, she pulled the rather short strip tight round her neck and waltzed through to the adults. She pushed the hand knitting out of sight behind a cushion, with the style of Joan Lafferty and announced: “I’ve made a scarf for my dolly, but this is proper knitting on a machine and I can do it”. It was huge fun and if ‘each one can teach one’ we’ll soon have a full-scale revival on our hands!

Do come and join us on Saturday 3rd March at Bournemouth School for Girls in Castle Gate Close, Castle Lane West, Bournemouth BH8 9UJ. There will be lots to see, try and buy and do bring a hand-knitting with you. We could try conversion tactics or, at the very least, have a really good knit ‘n’ natter!

If you live in the USA or Canada, you might like to know that we ​send out copies from the UK, but we also also ​offer a bespoke service. Dorothy and Bernie Rosman are our distributors for the USA and Canada and they look after all our readers personally. They sell new Silver Reed knitting machines, used Brother, Knitking, Studio and Silver Reed models as well as carrying many needed parts for Brother, Studio, Singer and Silver Reed knitting machines. Machine Knitting Monthly can be ordered direct from http://www.customknitsmfg.com and they also distribute Machine Knitting Monthly by subscription or single copies.

I have garter carriage KG-95 with a Brother 950i machine. I’m having difficulties getting started for the auto cast on. The Instruction Book says: “990 men button/men button insert 901 m” but the machine won’t accept 901 and the error light keeps coming up. This makes it a problem for the garter carriage to operate the cast on row. Also on the garter carriage when it’s operating, the slide No. 3 keeps changing and this changes the direction of the knitting. Can someone please help me? I live in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia and would appreciate any advice. Many thanks.

The Spring Knitting & Stitching Show at Olympia London in March will be hosting an exciting new celebration of the world of needlecraft – the National Needlecraft Awards (www.sewandso.co.uk/national-needlecraft-awards-2018). Developed by online needlecraft shop SewandSo (www.sewandso.co.uk), the awards are open to individuals and for nominations for talented friends and family. There’s also an opportunity to vote for favourite designers. There are General, Cross Stitch and Needlecraft categories and awards include Needlecrafter, Young Needlecrafter and Best Joint Needlecraft Project of the Year, Stitching Hero of the Year, Best Use of Colour and Designer of the Year for both Cross Stitch and Other Needlecraft and Best Contemporary Embroiderer.Entries are via the National Needlecraft Awards website and must be submitted by midnight on Thursday 15th February 2018. Shortlisted entrants will be notified by 17th February and will be required to post their submission for final judging. The awards take place at The Spring Knitting & Stitching Show at Olympia London on Thursday 1st March 2018 at 4.30 pm in the Creative Living Theatre.

At this time of the year we all need a treat so, for this week only, Marianne Henio has slashed the price of all her patterns, both hand and machine, by 25%. Use the coupon code 25percent Check out her website for those patterns that have tempted you and buy them now with great savings! Click here…

Everyone wants a wrap-around coat you can throw on over anything! Sometimes they’re a great way to hide from the world and Marianne Henio’s Mocha Swirl Coat is an absolute beauty. It’s almost floor length with an amazing twist at the hem. It’s a great way of taking a simple design and making it extra special. The details of how to create the swirl is fully explained in the pattern book. The coat can be knitted in any 3-ply weight and for more details, please follow the link and Click Here!

Squire’s Garden Centres are launching new Knit & Natter sessions every Wednesday from 9.30 to 10.30 am in their Cafe Bars at selected centres. These free drop-in sessions are a great place to meet other knitting enthusiasts, swap skills and ideas, or just relax with a drink while you knit and natter!